Jinx
by LuluizEmo
Summary: Totally indirect, Dr. Linwood-scientist-was experimenting on a sick human with a cure that can control the human, but it didn't end well. When Rick Grimes saw the first flash of Linwood's raven hair, with purple highlights, he instantly may have fell in love, but what about Lori? What he doesn't realize was that he may have jinxed it. Rated M for language and possible sexual scenes
1. Chapter 1

I checked my clock again: 8:57. My windows were boarded up, I had a large stock of food, an escape plan through my basement. Only 3 more minutes 'til the dead are coming. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I've never killed anyone. Dead or alive. Never. People think I murdered my neighbor. I was confirmed not guilty. They still think so, although it was an obvious suicide. My head threw back and I winced. My neck ached. 2 minutes. I was on the brim of crying and I ran to my basement. The satellites had shown a large crowd of people. _No, not people. They were people. Not anymore._ I smiled at my preparation. There was another figure that was running. A man. Shi-it. I pressed a button and the creatures were slowed down, and the man turned down my street. This is bad. Now he's going to want to stay with me, he's going to-shit. I was interrupted by a loud banging on my door. When it didn't open, I heard a click, a creak, another creak, then a click. I remained in my basement. The creatures outside didn't turn towards my street.

"You're fucking lucky they avoided you." I kept my eyes on the screen, clicked a few buttons and the screen zoomed in. "Ugh." I muttered. The creatures slowed down again.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Just trying to help the dipsh-unprepared." I cleared my throat.

"How are they slowing down?"

"The virus. I started it. Total indirect cause. I can control them. It's quite fun, actually."

"How do you stop it?"

"No idea, but, at least I can play."

"How do you stop it?" He demanded.

"Like I said, no idea." My tone staying calm. "What's your name?"

"Officer Rick Grimes. I'm looking for my wife and kid."

"Oh my gosh, I just realized I can totally help you with that."

"How?"

"ID scanner. Invented it."

"You're quite the scientist."

"I try." I muttered.

"Names?"

"Carl and Lori."

"Carl Grimes?" He nodded. I typed it into the search engine. It came up with 1,763,978 suggestions. "Age?"

"11." I switched his age to 11, instead of 'All'. "Much easier than I thought it would be." Switched it again to 11 year old Carl Grimes in Georgia, and it died down to 25.

"Carl Jackson Grimes?"

"No."

"Here we are, Carl Grimes, born June 27, 1999, is the son to Rick and Lori Grimes."

"Neat thing you go there. Got his whereabouts?" I nodded.

"Somewhere near Atlanta. Can take ya there in the morning." He nodded.

"Will do. I heard there was a safe-zone in Atlanta. Maybe they went there?" I shook my head and laughed.

"Hell no, man, if there's one thing I know, anyone with the right mind, will know that's a hella load a bullshit. Even JC would know that. There's a group outside of Atlanta. Visit there, you can try it. I ain't makin' no promises."

"Thank you...?"

"Carmelita Linwood." I muttered keeping my eyes on the computer screen. "People just call me Carlie. Such a coincidence."

"Not much of one. Do you sing?"

"Why?" I turned around in my chair.

"You just look like the singing type."

"Well, Rick If-you-must-know-everything, I do."

"Wait, what's that?" He asked, pointing to one of the creatures.

"Crap. We got ourselves a runner."

"A runner? Are you serious?"

"Nah. That's a person."

"Are you gonna help 'im come here?"

"Too far away. By the time the creatures are slowed down he can't push through the crowd. Sorry." I clicked a few times and the man got away and into a safe house without the creatures noticing. "Saved." I shut down the laptop and stood up from the chair.

"If you can control this, why don't you stop it?"

"I've been working on a cure. They say the CDC has it, although they're not even started on the right chemicals. Wanna try it?" He nodded, and I yawned. "In the morning." I looked around my basement for my backpack, and found it with all my other stuff. I grabbed my laptop and mouse and threw them in with the clothing, entertainment, and bottled water, and food.

"How much supplies do you have?" I motioned to the my garage, where my food was stuffed in a bag.

"120 bottles of water, 40 granola bars, 20 microwave dinners, 30 cheese sticks, um, 20 apples, 20 pears, 20 bananas, and that's about it." I also took my syringe box, along with the cure, and walked upstairs. We emerged into the living room, which was well lit. I saw a picture of my brother and smiled. _C'mon, Carlie. Show him where he's gonna sleep already!_ I could already hear his lecturing voice, and snapped out of my daze. "Follow me." I showed him down the hall to the guest room. He took his boots off and climbed into bed. I turned around and shut the door behind me. I just realized that I may kind of like him like him. _No. He's married. If I find his wife and kid, he won't give a shit about me anymore._ I went to the basement and set my bag in my car, with my other bag in the front. I reached my room and shut the door, and peered out the boarded window. Nothing. The neighbor's had an open door, smashed windows, it was a tragedy. I jumped into bed and fell right asleep.

In the morning, I heard a door creak open then footsteps. _Grimes is up_. I peeked out the window and saw it looked about 8:00. I sighed and got out of bed, slipped my clothes and tennis shoes on, brushed my hair and teeth and left the room. Rick was sitting at the table, his fingers dancing on the tabletop.

"Um, I have granola bars and fruit for breakfast." I said.

"An apple is fine." I nodded and grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl, as well as a pear for myself. I tossed him the fruit and took a bite from the pear. "So, are we gonna test the cure?" I nodded and finished my bar off then grabbed the box, and took out a syringe. We snuck out and found a lone creature with a bite on her arm. Rick tied her hands back and stuck the syringe in her arm. She stopped thrashing and Rick let go of her hands and stepped back. I tied a rope to her waist and pulled. She followed.

"I think it defeats the virus, but they're still dead."

"You're right. They're dead."

"Maybe they're like dogs. They'll attack when needed."

"What're they going to attack? It can only work on humans."

"True."

"Lemme try something. We're friendly." She grunted and seemed to nod "Let's name her Carissa."

"She's like a pet." We saw another lone walker, and Rick pointed at it. "Attack." Carissa lunged at the walker and clawed at it. She pounded her fist onto it's head, and smashed it's skull. Me and Rick exchanged a glance. "Woah."

"Let's get going to Atlanta." He nodded and I pulled on the rope. Carissa walked behind us. We reached my defensed car. It had a large blade at the head of it, and at the back. I opened the door and pointed to the back seat. "Sit." She jumped into the car. "This is quite interesting." I buckled Carissa and tied her arms to the seat. Rick and I jumped into the front. I hoisted my bags on my shoulders. Fortunately, Atlanta wasn't very far. Maybe a five minute drive. We reached the entering highway, and saw the exiting highway was an abandoned traffic jam. We saw a bus, and two creatures. I drove past it, and and ran into a huge herd. I backed away. There was a few more.

"Aww...shit." I whispered. I jumped out of the car and ran to a tank, and Rick followed me. We pulled ourselves inside the tank and saw a marine. I stabbed my knife into its head

"Hey...you...yeah, you in the tank, cozy in there?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey! You alive in there?" The voice asked again. Rick ran up to it.

"Hello? Hello?" His eyes darted around the room, and his head jerked at any sound of noise. I stayed cowering in the corner.

"Oh, there you are. You had me wondering..." He trailed off.

"Where are you? Outside? Can you see me right now?" I rushed up to Rick's side.

"Yea. I can see you." The voice replied. "You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

"Any good news?" Rick asked.

"No." I laughed a little but quickly shut myself up.

"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here."

"Oh man, you should see from over here, you'd be having a major freak out."

"Got any advice for me?" I could feel the doubt in his voice.

"Yea." I let out a sigh of relief. "I'd say make a run for it." My eyes widened. Rick paused for a moment.

"That's it? Make a run for it?"

"My ways not as dumb as it sounds, you got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have joined the...feeding frenzy with whatever was in your car. You with me so far?"

"Carissa." I mumbled under my breath.

"So far." Rick said.

"Okay. The street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you've got a chance. Got ammo?"

"Yea, I think."

"Forget thinking, it's not an option, what do you have on you?"

"Hang on." Rick went back and grabbed the gun, as I snatched the mic. He showed me the gun and went over to the dead marine. He searched his pockets, then a drawer, which had a grenade. I smirked.

"Yea, we got a knife, a Baretta with 1 clip, 15 rounds." He said as he got over.

"Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going that direction. There's an alley up the tree maybe...50 yards. Be there." He cut it off and Rick faced me.

"Let's go." He said. I grabbed a shovel from the tank and opened the hatch to jump out. There was one of them and I smacked it in the head with the shovel. I jumped off the tank with Rick behind me as I heard gunshots. He shot the closest and we ran down the alley. The man on the radio-quite adorable-, an Asian, shoved Rick's gun down and motioned us through the fence.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Faster!" He said with a panicked look on his face. _Who wouldn't be panicked? _and Rick continued shooting the closest ones. I followed the Asian up a yellow ladder as Rick stayed down. "What're you doing?! C'mon!" He shouted. We reached a landing and the Asian gave me his hand. We looked down and caught our breath. "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood." I rolled my eyes. "You the new sheriff? Come riding in to clean up the town?"

"Wasn't my intention." He said.

"Yea, whatever, yeeha." The Asian said sarcastically. "You're still a dumbass." He adjusted his pack. Rick stuck his hand out.

"Rick, thanks."

"Glenn, you're welcome." Rick shoved his gun into Glenn's bag. "Oh no." We stared down the ladder as I tied my raven hair back. A walker was climbing up. We stared _up_ another ladder. "Bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half-full kinda guy." I followed the Asian with Rick behind me. We reached a balcony and crossed some bridge across the alley.

"You the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asked.

"Somebody did." Glenn said, jumping over a wall to another roof. "I guess when the city got overrun, whoever did it was thinking. Not many geeks get through." We ran across the roof and Glenn opened some hatch and threw his pack down, as Rick threw the food bag down.

"Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for me?" Seriously, it's like I'm not even there.

"If there's a foolish naive hope, that I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you." He started climbing down with me in front of him and Rick in front of me. We reached the bottom of a building and Glenn ran outside to a stairwell, and shouted into his walkie. "I'm back. Got a guest. There's four geeks in the alley." We reached the bottom of the stairs and waited for someone to come out. Two ninja-stealth-like men came out and started beating the walkers down. Glenn led us into the building and I was taken down by a blonde woman.

"Son of a bitch, I'm gonna kill you."

"Wait, you were here the whole time?" Glenn whispered.

"Chill out, Andrea, back off." A Spanish man ordered.

"Ease up." A black woman said calmly.

"Ease up? You're kidding me. We're dead because of these stupid assholes."

"Andrea!" The Spanish man demanded again. "I said back. The hell. Off. Alright, pull the trigger." The woman, Andrea, pulled her gun back and started to cry.

"We're dead. All of us, because of you."

"I don't understand." Rick said, breathing heavily. The Spanish man pushed him into another room and I followed reluctantly behind.

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. You know what the key to surviving is? Sneaking in and out. Tip-toeing! Not shootin' up the street!" **(I didn't understand Morales on the 'like a theo kick a corral? I dunno)**

"Every geek from miles around heard you poppin of rounds!" A black guy scowled. We stared at the window where a walker had lifted up a rock and was banging on the window.

"You just rang the dinner bell."

"Get the picture now?" The Spanish guy asked.

"Oh god." Andrea cried. We backed away from the window and behind a clothes rack. "The hell were you doing out there anyway?"

"Trying to find my family."

"So you guys aren't married?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Was that what you were thinkin'? Damn, that's some serious shit."

"Hey T-Dog," So that's the black guys name? "can you try the CB radio to contact the others?"

"Others? The refugee center?" I nudged Rick in the stomach.

"Yea, the refugee center. They got biscuits waiting in the oven for us." The black woman said sarcastically.

"Got no signal." T-Dog frowned. "Maybe the roof." We heard gunshots.

"Shit, was that Dixon?" Andrea groaned. I was pulled towards the staircase by Glenn, and ran up the stairs towards the roof, to see a bald man shooting a rifle.

"Hey Dixon! Are you crazy!?" The Spanish man raged. Dixon laughed. He shot again.

"Hey! You oughtta be more polite to a man with a gun!" I could see the smug look on his face. He jumped from the perch and grunted. "Only common sense."

"Man, you're wasting bullets we ain't even got, man! Now you're bringin' 'em all down on our ass! Man just chill!" T-Dog shouted, running over to Dixon.

"Hey, it's bad enough that I'm talkin to you! Now I gotta take orders from ya? That'll be the day." T-Dog scowled at Dixon.

"That'll be the day? You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"That'll be the day I take orders from a nigger!" He lunged at T-Dog and attacked him before standing up. "Now, I wanna see who's in charge. Show of hands for me?" The black woman, Andrea, and the Spanish man slowly raised their hands, except the black woman who gave him the finger. "Anybody else? Huh? Anyone?" Rick came behind him and pinned him to the ground and cuffed him to the pipe.

"Who are you man?"

"Officer Friendly." Rick glared, and grabbed his gun. "Things are different now. There are no niggers anymore, no dumb-as-shit white trash fools either. Only dark meat, and white meat. That's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

"Screw you, man."

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah? Well screw you twice." With his other hand he pounded Rick in the jaw. I ran up and grabbed his fist.

"Listen here, Dixon, the only one who's gonna be doing the screwin' is me. You know what I say?"

"What is that, sugar tits?"

"I say screw," I clocked him in the nose. "you," In the cheek. "asshole." He smirked.

"Woah, sugar tits has got some game." I scoffed and walked back to help T-Dog.

"You oughtta be polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense."

"You wouldn't. You're a cop."

"All I am anymore is a man lookin' for his wife, and son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." He pulled his gun away and searched Dixon for any weapons. He found a packet of some kind of drugs and threw it over the side of the roof.

"Hey! What're you doing, man?! That's my stuff! If I get loose you better pray! You hear me? You hear me? You hear me?" He repeated.

"Yea, your voice carries." Rick and the Spanish guy started a conversation, and Andrea and the black woman-I learned her name was Jacqui-leaned over the railing, and I sat next to Merle.

"Hey there, sugar-"

"Don't call me that." I glared. Everyone except me and T-Dog ran downstairs.

"How 'bout you gimme that there hacksaw? Or a screwdriver." I nodded and handed him the tools. He started tinkering away at the cuffs.

"Ya can't do that! He's gonna kill that cop!" I shrugged.

"If he does he'll receive a getaway to the street, otherwise known as internal death." T-Dog laughed.

"What's your name?"

"Linwood. Worked at the CDC. Listen, any of you lose anybody to this?" T-Dog shook his head, but Merle nodded.

"Pop and Jess."

"No offense, but I don't give a fuck about you since ya beat up this innocent man. I kinda started this. But, it was totally indirect. It was an experiment. I was trying to give it to disabled people to be able to, like, control their selves." I smirked. "It ended up being me able to control them."

"Whaddya mean?" I pointed to a walker that was crawling, and got out my laptop.

"I pinpoint our current whereabouts, then," I grabbed a tracker out of my bag and connected it to my computer. "I connect this," I clicked on the crawling walker and started controlling it. "I can also change them to become human. Except they won't be able to talk. They won't be dead anymore, therefore causing them to be able to be eaten. That's what happened to Carissa."

"Carissa?"

"I named her that. That was the distraction." The crawling walker stood up and started jumping, then flailing its arms. I laughed.

"Looks like one of those balloon men." I nodded.

"Weird." I put away my laptop and sat against.

"Hey, where you from?"

"Up the road a ways."

"Well, Linwood, from up the road a ways. Welcome to the big city." T-Dog smirked. We looked out over the overrun city very dramatically.

"T-Dog and the other chick! We need ya down here!" The Spanish man called. I nodded to T-Dog and ran downstairs. When I saw that Rick and Glenn were half covered in guts I threw up. Literally. Threw. Up.

"Now you just made two people sick! That is messed up." Andrea frowned.

"Just think of something else. Puppies and Kittens." Rick said, continuing to slice up the dead guy.

"_Dead_ Puppies and Kittens." T-Dog fidgeted. They were moving outside and we ran up the staircase to the roof.

"Hey! Someone mind tellin' me what's goin' on?" Merle shouted.

"There." The Spanish guy pointed to Rick and Glenn moving slowly through the crowd, when it started to rain.

"Shit." A few moments later they had hopped into the Ferenc construction truck and were driving away. "They're leaving us!" Andrea cried.

"Meet us at the garage in 5. Hurry." Glenn's voice came out on the CB radio. Next thing we knew there was a car alarm blasting out. We ran back downstairs to the garage and heard a banging on the door. Andrea tugged it open and I jumped into the van. The drive to the camp was surprisingly as short as the one here. We pulled into a small camp, and saw Glenn and his magnificent red car. The Spanish guy jumped out of the car.

"New guy, and girl, come meet some people." He said before meeting up with his family. Everyone filed out except me and Rick. I had no family, he may have not either. I looked out the window, to see everyone meeting up with their family.

"Well, I guess we better go out. Maybe you might see 'em, Rick." He gave me a warm smile. I hopped out and rocked on my heels. I didn't see who I was expecting, though. I took a second glance.

"Jim?" I ran up. "Jim!" I smiled at the sight of my brother. He hugged me and I saw everyone's faces. I pulled back and looked at a woman and a child. Lori and Carl Grimes. "Rick! Get the fuck out here, dammit!" I shouted. The woman and kid looked towards me, then at the van. Rick came out and I saw the look of horror, and the look of exasperation on the woman and another man's face. I knew what this meant. Lori had committed infidelity.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented." Rick repeated. "Fear, confusion, all those things, but disoriented comes the closest."

"Words can be meager things." Dale said, putting down his cup. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life, put somewhere else. For a moment I thought I was trapped in some coma, dream, something I might not wake up from. Ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl said, looking up at his father. Aw shit. Bad timing, kid.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, it never happened." I scowled at Lori. Rick deserves better than that whore.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital it got overrun."

"Looks don't deceive." Shane said doubtfully. "I barely got them out."

"You know, I can't tell you how grateful I am for that, Shane." Rick squeezed Lori's shoulder and I dug my head into the crook of Jim's neck. He smirked at me and turned back to look at his wife. "But, when Carm-" I glared at him. "Linwood," He corrected, as Lori gave him a confused look. "When Linwood saved me, it was like a ray of sunshine came into that coma." Lori's eyes kept dancing on the floor. We heard a thud and saw Ed threw another log into the fire.

"So, Linwood. Mind tellin' us your story?" Rick asked.

"Not much to tell. I was prepared, that's how I survived those first 10 hours you left me with at my house, Grimes. But we can't have any infected here, you hear me? No. Body. You get bit, come to me. Don't go screaming around like a little girl." That got a laugh from everyone, except Lori. She kept constantly glancing back at Shane, the ground, then Rick.

"Did anybody think about Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy his brother got left behind." Dale said.

"I'll tell him, I'm the one who dropped the key." T-Dog said.

"I cuffed him, that makes him mine."

"Guys it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn stepped in.

"We could lie." Amy pointed out.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea shot back calmly. "Merle was out of control, something had to be done or he would've gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary, and if Merle got left behind, it is nobodies fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale scrunched his nose. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Andrea shook her head slowly. "Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared, and I ran. And I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog said.

"We were all scared, we all ran." Andrea replied. "What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow, maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze through it. And even one ton, it's not enough to break through. Not that chain. N-Not that padlock. My point: Dixon's alive. He's still up there. Hand-cuffed on that roof. That's all nice." T-Dog stood up and walked to his tent. After that, everyone just left. Since the RV doesn't have enough room, Rick invited me in his tent. Although it's a little weird, Carl and Lori are there so Lori won't accuse me of anything. I rolled around in the sleeping bag and saw Rick talking to Carl.

"I found you." He smiled.

"I love you dad."

"I love you, Carl." Rick kissed his forehead and went to Lori. What they didn't realize was that I was still awake. "I found you both." He said after they had finished there short make-out session.

"Yea." Lori said worried.

"I knew I would." He continued.

"You're getting cocky, now." She laughed. _Oh, like how Shane was getting cocky in your ass? Yea, I know, dumbass._ I thought. "A little bit."

"No, no, I knew. Walking into our house, finding an empty house, both of you gone. I knew you were alive." He breathed.

"How?"

"Photos were gone. All our family albums." They got into an I'm-gonna-romantically-kiss-you position. "I told you so."

"Now you're getting cocky, huh? A lot." She smirked. He stuck a picture in the photo album she had taken out. "Baby, I really thought I'd never see you again. I'm so sorry. For everything, I feel like, when you were in the hospital, I just wanted to take it all back; the anger, and the-and the bad times, and the mistakes." He kissed Lori.

"Maybe we got a second chance. Not many people get that." I could see the 'I just ruined our second chance' look in her eyes. She took out his wedding ring.

"I was wondering where that went."

"Do you want it back?"

"Of _course_." Wow, she was right. He _is_ getting cocky. She took the ring off and slid it onto his finger. They started their make-out session again. Lori dimmed the light and Rick looked at Carl.

"He won't wake up." She reassured him. He looked at me. "She's fast-asleep." She smirked. I heard the blankets and jerked my head around.

"Seriously guys?" I groaned, a little too loudly, which made Carl wake up and stir.

"Sorry, Ca-Linwood." Rick corrected himself again. I fell back asleep.

I woke up to birds chirping, and rustling in the tent. I saw Rick was awake. I crawled over to him.

"Whattya doin'? He asked, a little panicked.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna rape you. But, I think Lori _may_ have had an affair with Shane. I could see the panic in her eyes when she saw you. At the fire, she was constantly glancing at Shane."

"I refuse to believe that."

"Ask her. He probably knocked her up. In fact, in nine months, if I'm still alive. Maybe we can ask the fucking baby." I scoffed as I stood up and walked out.

"Carlie, wait."

"What?"

"I will believe you when I have evidence, but I just don't think Lori would do that."

"You know, if you don't ask her, I will." I left and walked up to Carol.

"Morning."

"Mornin'. Do you know where Lori is?" I asked, a little more demanding than I thought. I realized I had grabbed my pack, which-lucky me-had a voice recorder.

"Hanging up clothes, why?"

"Thanks gotta go talk to her, bye." I rushed off and pulled Lori off to the side. "Listen here, Lori. I know about you and Shane. I can see it in your eyes." I pressed the record button without her noticing. "Now tell me, did you or did you not get knocked up by Shane?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, her voice shaking.

"I can tell you're lying. Tell me the truth." She nodded slowly.

"I did. Just please don't tell Rick! Please!"

"I knew it!" I pressed the record button and ran off. I actually felt _guilty_. Dammit. I trekked through the woods, and saw a deer. It had been recently shot and a walker was edging in on it. I stomped on it's head and heard the kids running towards the sound. "You're trying to steal our food, weren't ya? You stupid, filthy, motherless, sum-bitch." I kicked it numerous times before stomping on its head. I heard rustling in the bushes and casually plucked the arrows out of the deer and hauled it onto my shoulder. I turned around and started walking back to camp.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Hey, asshole!" Some guy called. "He fucking stole my deer. Hey! Gimme the fucking deer back!" I glanced back and scowled

"FYI, I'm not a 'he', Mr. I'm a she. By your attitude I suppose you're Dixon number 2?" He nodded.

"Daryl. What's it to ya?"

"Well, about Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta. He's cuffed to a roof. T supposedly chained the door so the geeks couldn't go in."

"He dead?"

"I don't know."

"Either he is or he ain't."

"He is, most likely. But we can't be sure. You can ride up in your little truck and save your brother, or you can leave 'im there. Either way, I'm taking the deer, and you can repay me for being respectful to your brother by giving us both credit for the deer: me for saving it, you for catching it." I headed back to camp and set the deer near Amy and Andrea. "We got us some dinner, thanks to Dixon." The sisters smiled at me.

"Thank you Dixon!" Amy called.

"Who got this?" Rick said as he came over to us.

"Daryl." I muttered.

"Linwood, can I talk to you alone?"

"Um, sure?" He pulled me over to the side of the forest.

"I take it you told Merle's brother about him?"

"Yea, I did."

"Well, someones going to have to go back and check on Carissa, at least. See if they ate her, then we'd know." I nodded and glanced at Daryl who had gotten into an argument with Shane.

"You need to go clean up that mess, Rick. Part of it was your fault." He sighed and walked over to Daryl. I sat down on a log near the tent. I looked back to see Lori had come out of the RV. I turned down the voice recorder and played it.

_"Now tell me, did you or did you not get knocked up by Shane?"_

_"I don't know what you're talking about."_

_"I can tell you're lying. Tell me the truth."_

_"I did. Just please don't tell Rick! Please!"_

_"I knew it!"_ I closed my eyes, shoved it back in my bag and threw it in the tent.

"Are you worried about them?" Carol asked me as we watched the men go.

"No." I lied.

"C'mon, I see the way he looks at you, it's the way Lori looks at him. Now, I'm not suggesting you ruin their marriage, but you should talk to him."

"About what?"

"Please, like you don't know."

"No, really, I don't."

"Tell him you like him!"

"Carol, if this was possible, I would totally give you the award for the stupidest idea ever." I walked over to the tent and hopped in. "Hey, Carl."

"Hi." He muttered.

"What's up, buddy?" I said kneeling down near him.

"I didn't want dad to leave."

"If I am correct, I believe that man got shot, went through Atlanta, and this is Atlanta we're talkin about, kid. Atlanta. City of the dead. Anyway, went through Atlanta, walked through a crowd of walkers, _covered _in walker guts. Ew. He went through hell to find you two, bud. I don't think he's gonna die."

"What else did he do?"

"He ran from a crowd of them, too. Went through an abandoned hospital, too."

"Carl!" Lori called.

"What?"

"There you are, what'd I tell you about leaving Dales sight?"

"But-"

"No buts, just go, I need to talk to her." Carl groaned and got up and left. "What were you telling him?"

"About Rick."

"What _about _Rick?"

"It was to make him feel better, lady. Get off my back."

"Feel better about...?"

"Have you been in Daisy Meadow Land this whole time? Rick went back to Atlanta to risk his life for a friend of ours, a bag of tools, and Merle. Dixon. Besides, didn't you protest about him going?"

"Yes."

"But, before that, you told him to go."

"Yes. I did. What's your point?"

"My point is that I don't like you. I wonder what you thought when you were with Shane. Oh, my husband's dead, that means I can fuck other men. Woohoo!" I sarcastically fist-pumped the air. "Listen, I don't want to ruin your marriage 'cause I'm not an ego-obsessed stuck-up bitch like you, and because Rick would be devastated to learn his wife fucked his best friend. If I die before you, my last words would be "Fuck. You."" I turned around and left to find Carl slumped on a log. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Carlie?" Jim called.

"What?"

"Can you come over here for a sec?" I saw Jim talking to Dale. "Dale needs someone to take watch, think you could?"

"Um, sure. Let me grab my gun." He nodded and I saw figures in the tent, fighting.

"You lost my trust when you said my husband was dead." I walked in casually, grabbed my rifle, then left.


	3. Chapter 3

God, I hate that woman. Always acting like the 'Queen Bee'. The only person I know of that doesn't support her 'whoriness' is Andrea. And thank Jesus for her.

I decided that today should be the day I actually tell everyone my true identity, although I've never been for the idea of sharing personal information. I'm not psychic, but I can tell that they're going to ask about me. Lucky for them, I'm willing to tell.

But what they don't realise is they may not like the actual Carmelita Linwood. I've been in magazines, the news, the papers, ads, damnit I even have my own Wiki page. Kind of like that How I Met Your Mother episode where Ted meets the girl and thinks she's a criminal, or a prostitute or something when Lily, Robin, Marshall, and Barney tell him to search her. Hopefully, I don't get too much attention. I'm not an attention whore, but I just don't like 'We have some leftover food, I think Carmelita should have it.' or 'Praise the Holy Goddess!' shit. I mean, if someone gave food, water, medicine stuff like that out of genorosity I guess I would appreciate it. I just hope karma hates me right now.

The campfire seemed to snicker at me for my irrational thinking. I glared back at it as T-Dog noticed my mental temper tantrum.

"What's on your mind, Linwood?"

"Nothing." I grumbled, continuing to glare into the snickering shit-bag of a fire. I looked up when I heard one of the chairs cloth move.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked Amy, giving the mom figure of an older sister.

"I have to pee, jeez, you try and be discreet around here." She muttered. I jumped up.

"I'll go too." I followed Amy into the RV, when I spotted a moving figure outside of the RV. I opened the window and screamed, "Walkers!" Amy was about to open the door when she heard me. She quickly backed away, and I ran inside and slammed the door.

"D-do you have any toilet paper?" I shook my head.

"Look in the cabinets." I whispered back. The door swung and Jim came in and hugged me.

"You okay?" I nodded. He gave me a kiss one the cheek.

"Jim, do you think New York was hit?" He nodded.

"Sis, everywhere was hit."

"You guys are _brother_ and _sister_?" Amy asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Yea. Couldn't you tell?" I pointed to me and Jim's face.

"Mhmm, sure." She laughed sarcastically. Next came in Carl, and Lori. Ugh. Lori. She just makes me want to hurl.

"You guys alright?" Jim asked.

"Yes, but Carol, Jim, could you help her, please?"

"Yes, ma'am." I could not believe this. If he dies, it's her fault. And I will kill her. The RV door opened and Jim ran out. I ran to the front, spying on him. A walker came up from behind him and bit into his neck.

"No! No, no, no!" I pushed away Lori and ran out of the RV, approaching Jim and holding his in my arms.

"I can fix this, just, just hold on, please, hold on. Jim, please!" His eyes rolled to the back of his head. "No! No, Jim! Stay with me, Jim! Jim!" I collapsed on the ground, just...done. I stared up at the sky, feeling empty. Like I lost my purpose. Like, like nothing mattered anymore. I closed my eyes as I felt strong arms pick me up. I tried to struggle, but I realized I had held my breath and was out of air. I gasped, shooting into a sitting position, I was on the couch in the RV. I looked up, the sun was high. Jim had turned a long time ago, and he was gone. My brother-my best friend, was gone. I stood up and opened the door, blinded by the sunlight. The smell of death and decay burned my nose. I looked around for any sign of Jim. Daryl and T-Dog were carrying his body towards a large fire. Glenn yelled some things at them, and they carried him towards the burial sight. I couldn't stand it, the loss of my brother. My grip was loosening on the handlebar, I was about to fall forward when Daryl caught me.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Who asks someone that?"

"Well, okay then." He turned to leave. I held on to the handlebar again and leaned out.

"Hey, wait." I suddenly forgot what I was going to say I was so lost in my thoughts. "Um, sorry about your brother." I blurted, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.

"Sorry about yours." He left me alone, as I recounted the memories of Jim. I collapsed on the couch again, crying hard. I felt movement on the couch, not bothering to look over.

"Carlie, I know it's not the easiest thing to go through but you'll get over it." Lori said, putting a hand on my back. For some reason, I found this comforting. I glanced up at her face.

"Lori, I'm sorry, for everything. I'll delete the recording, I won't tell Rick, please, just...forgive me."

"It's-it's fine, I know I'm not the easiest person. I regret everything that happened with Shane, if I'm pregnant, then...well so be it. It's not the greatest thing in the world."

"That's funny, didn't realize there was a world." I laughed a bit.

"Yea, it's kinda hard to forget. You know, sometimes you wake up, and you totally forget what's happening." She sighed.

"Can you promise me something?"

"Yes, anything."

"If we ever find a safe place to stay, promise me I don't have to do the laundry and cook? That's not my thing, really."

"I promise." We both burst into laughter, and then I realized what she meant, how you can lose yourself surrounded by the ones you love, it's a feeling I wish I could've held onto for all my life, but we all know that that could not be granted.

"Since when are you two BFF's? Oh, by the way, Lori, I wanted to apologize for-" Shane started from the doorway.

"Since five minutes ago when you weren't here, now shut the fuck up and walk away." I glared.

"Listen, lady I know you're going through a rough time with your brother and all, so I'm gonna make this easy. Rick. Outside. Now."

"Fuck you." I called after him.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly. I grinned back and we walked outside, I tended to avoid the group, given the certain state.

"-Jim, Ed, and everyone else we lost. We need to go." Somebody said. I couldn't take it anymore. I rushed into the RV and threw up in the toilet. I flushed it, taking a seat and crying. The cure. I need to test it. I don't give a damn if I die doing it, but I need to make sure this works before anything else happens. I ran to my tent, taking a syringe and sewing it into my shirt, running out into the woods. I heard a low growl from behind me and smiled. I let it take a nip at my skin before sticking my knife in it's skull and jamming the fluid into my arm. I felt woozy and leaned against a tree. I dropped the empty syringe, my hands too weak to hold it. My stomach twisted and my arm was on fire. I clenched my teeth together as my heart boomed against my chest. I lay down on the forest floor, my stomach eased a little and I could faintly hear my heartbeat. My arm felt like someone had put out the fire, and the bite was still visible, but it wasn't bad. I picked up the syringe, taken I had a only a small amount of them. I could feel someone watching me.

"Who's there?" There was a low crunch of dead leaves. "I know you're there." I kept walking towards camp, checking behind me, before I felt strong hands on my neck, holding tight. I struggled to make them let go, I was out of breath and couldn't breath. I swung my foot backwards and took the advantage of the person's grip loosening, swinging around, I saw it was Daryl. "What the fuck?"

"You were bitten! What'd you eject into you?" He said, pained.

"It's the cure."

"The cure, my ass. That is _not_ the cure. It's just some shit that's not. Going. To work." He swung me over his shoulder, and I hit and kicked him numerous times but his grip didn't break.

"If I ever die, I'm going to haunt you for life." I glared into his back.

"Ha, good luck."

"Thanks, but I think it's pretty easy."

"You'd be wrong."

"Oh, and if I die, I'm also going to bite your shoulder."

"Good point. Oh, well."

"Oh, well? What are you? Some kind of moronic optimist?"

"Yea, I guess you could put it that way."

"Can you put me down, please?"

"No. You're going to die sooner or later, and if I don't get you back to camp and explain why we have to kill you then I'm going to look like a monster who raped and murdered you."

"Rather it be that than getting my head split open."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." He let me down and pulled me towards the RV to Rick. "She's bitten."

"What?" He asked in disbelief.

"Show him." I rolled up my sleeve to show him the small amount taken from my arm.

"That's impossible, how'd this happen."

"Says she has some kind of cure."

"It _is_ a cure. It contains the strongest medicine that can eliminate any virus. And a bunch of other shit I have no idea what the hell is."

"We're going to the CDC. You worked there?" I nodded. "Is it still there?"

"I dunno, I left to stay with Jim at the first sign of the virus. A man stayed, is what I heard. Edwin Jenner's his name."


	4. Chapter 4

The blast had scared us all, the children much more than others. But recalling last night, I'd take it a million times over what happened.

I was standing in the recreation room, picking out a book to put myself to sleep, when I was startled by-an obviously drunk-Shane. He smirked oddly.

_"So how're things?" He had said in his drunken slur._

_"Fuck off." I grabbed the first book that looked interesting, turning around and trying to avoid him. He jumped in front of me. Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me over to the wall and slammed me against it. He cornered me, his hand found it's way up my shirt, while the other was holding me in place. I kneed him in the face, a crack filling the air. I ran past him, towards my room. I had been stuck with Daryl, and I heard his soft snores. I was close before I slipped and fell. Shane caught up to me and grabbed me by the shoulder, pushing a broken beer bottle towards my neck, the shard poking at my skin. It __eventually broke through, and I could feel the blood running down my chest._

_"Leave. Her. Alone." A crossbow was held up to Shane's skull. Daryl. Relieved, I pulled a hand up to my neck, the blood spilling through the cracks between my fingers. Shane backed away, walking slowly back towards his room. "We need someone to clean that up."_

_"I'm fine, really."_

_"You are _not _fine, Carlie, you have a gouge in your _neck_, and it's going to get infected. That's the last thing we need, c'mon, let's get washed up." He led me into the bathroom, running the water onto a rag and dabbing the blood along my neckline and placing a gauze pad over it. "You __need a change of clothes."_

_"'Kay." I trudged towards our room, taking out a pair of black jeans, setting them on the floor next to my bag, and a white and black T-Shirt. I took off my bloodied clothes, turning around and being startled by Daryl, staring wide-eyed. I jumped, covering every inch. "Peep show's over, asshole." I glared at him. He backed out, and I was left alone again to slip on my shirt, and extra underwear. I sighed and got into bed, pulling the blanket over as Daryl nestled into the couch next to me._

Awkward, right? Well, it gets even worse now. I had to ride on Daryl's motorcycle-him reluctantly letting me, though-because Shane left his Jeep and was riding in the RV, and I'm not comfortable to be with him, so this was it. Luckily it was him who insisted I ride with him, or this would be extremely awkward. I mean like, over the top. He was still riled up about what happened last night. To make it ever so worse, I had to hold onto his torso. So back to now. We were riding up this traffic jam, getting all settled in, when an unexpected crowd of walkers comes, and I drag Carol's little girl Sophia under a truck, holding her away from the edges. When we get exposed and a walker crawls under with us, we run into the forest, a very long way, first of all because I was unarmed, second of all because I am _not _touching one of those _things_. We both leaned against a tree, resting.

"What's the plan?" She asked me, her tear-striken face glancing up at me, and then behind the tree.

"We'll make our way back to the highway, we'll get there by tomorrow at noon, morning, somewhere there, depending on our speed. If we walk, noon, if we run, earlier. Judging we just kept going straight, then if we turn back, we'll make it. " She nodded. "Let's get some rest, alright?" I boosted her up on a high tree branch, while I stayed on the lowest for look out.

"Carlie? Can we go?" Sophia shook my shoulder, it took me a minute to realize I had fallen asleep.

"Yea, um, yea." I grabbed her hand and we ran through the forest as before, dodging trees, rocks, and large bushes. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot. We paused for a moment.

"What do we do?"

"We can't go that way, the gunshot will attract walkers." We heard some growls in front of us, blocking the way we were going. "Shit! C'mon, c'mon!" I pulled her in another direction, crossing unfamiliar grounds. We arrived in a small clearing, with a church. We rounded the corner, pressed a random button, and the sound of bells rung out. There was a crunch of leaves behind us, now. We turned around and started running again, Sophia's clammy, trembling hand in mine, I had a feeling this might be the rest of our lives.

Well, to put it this way, I have Amnesia. Don't remember anything, can't remember anything, and maybe I will never remember anything. Plus side, we made it home. Down side, _I don't fucking remember it's home_. Sucks for me. Someone explained it. Forgot their name…started with a T, that's all I remember. Then this guy always stays with me, his name is Daryl, that I know for sure. He said I got shot in the side, and once on the top of my head, but due to the girls bad aiming, they only skimmed me. An old man said I don't remember anything up to 5 years. 5 years.

Wait, does that mean to me I just lost five years of age? Cool…So I'm 25 now. Score! So, basically, what they make me do is stay in _bed_ all day. How _boring _is that? Also, they tell me it's a Sunday, right? I have to go to work on _Monday_. If I'm perfectly _fine_ then I should be able to go to work. They tell me I don't have a job anymore, that I _lost_ it. I asked them why, they said they'll tell me later. Fucking _later_.

"Why won't they tell me why I got fired, why Jim isn't here, and why I can't go home?" I asked Daryl one day, huddled up under the covers, facing him.

"They just don't wanna stress you out, Carlie."

"Can't they just stress me out and get it over with?"

"You could hurt yourself is all."

"Why would I wanna hurt my self? I like my life."

"You won't after you find out what happened."

"Can _you_ at least tell me one of the things?"

"Fine, the CDC got…dead."

"What do you mean?"

"It…blew up."

"What?! How?!"

"The generator lost fuel."

"Why didn't they just refill it?"

"Because they don't have any fuel." He sighed, realizing suddenly we were playing the 20 questions game.

"Why didn't the fuel guys come?"

"They're dead."

"What happened?"

"They got ambushed."

"When did they get ambushed?"

"2 years ago."

"By who?"

"This humongous group of people who want to kill anything with a heartbeat."

"The KKK?"

"Sure."

"Seriously, who?"

"The undead." He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Undead? You mean like…zombies?"

"Yes…" He bit his lip, looking down.

"And _nobody_ though it was a good idea to tell me that 90% of the world's population? One of those my _brother_?"

"We debated over it but-"

"You didn't even tell me my brother is _dead_! That my parents are _dead_! That everyone I ever knew is _dead_!"

"But we didn't want this to happen."

"What? For me to want to punch you in the eye?! Who were you anyway? My 'best friend'? 'Cause you sure ain't there now!"

"Why're you blaming me? It's not my fault nobody even told you who you are, why you're here, what happened to the world. I told you those things! So shut the hell up!" He glared my way. I dug my head into the pillow and screamed like a teenage girl who doesn't get the latest phone. I heard a door open and close, assuming he left I started to cry. Not because he yelled at me, because I just found out that my brother, my real best friend, is dead.

**Woah...Carlie...CTFD...but anyway, hey guys c: Ish Sonni, and dat means dat you just read my book :o Thanks c: 3 U. Bai.**


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